Many Christians think that only pastors are called to make disciples and preach the gospel, and that the rest of us are just called to be at the sidelines experiencing God's favour and blessing but never really getting our hands dirty.
Before Jesus ascended into heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father, He commanded the disciples in Matthew 28:19, " Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Now, many people think that Jesus was just addressing that to a group of would-be pastors and apostles and consequently every other pastor and apostle that would be ordained therein.
But has God really just called pastors to minister? Or could God be calling everyone- including the student, engineer, doctor, employee, entrepreneur, mother and child- to go and make disciples as well?
In Ephesians 4:11-12, the apostle Paul said, "And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ."
Basically, what Paul is saying here is that God has given every church a set of spiritual leaders who will not just reach the lost, but also train, equip and ready every saint- that is everyone who believes and is redeemed by God- to become a messenger of the Gospel. God is not just calling the vocational ministers and pastors to become a light to the world, but is instead calling each and every believer to be a testimony of His goodness through their actions and in their words.
Imagine if the whole world was victim to a widespread disease and that you were recipient to a cure that could one hundred percent without fail remove that disease, would you keep that cure to yourself? Every believer is a recipient to a cure to the deadliest disease there is- eternal separation from God- and we are also carriers of the cure that is made available to all.
The problem we face today is not that the church is full of people who aren't called, but that the church is full of "Christians" who do not realise the power that they hold in the gospel. If we truly understood what power there is to our faith, we would readily share it to our family and friends. That doesn't mean that we shove it down their throats and force them to believe in our religion, but that we actively seek out opportunities to love and serve and be a light that shines Jesus Christ.
We are all called to be a light to the world and a salt to the earth because we all have the privilege of knowing the power that is in Christ and the freedom that is in His Spirit.
